Who said MLS fans couldn't watch other leagues? The reality i live in, MLS fans make silly arguments like this that have nothing to do with what we are talking about all the time. The first step to recovery is acceptance.
Deep thought from a foreigner who doesn't understand our country or how to build something. There is a large group of soccer fans that have watched the owners of the league and their actions and don't believe they give a damn about soccer or growing the game in this country. You applaud what they care about and can't recognize that it isnt soccer. I have understood people who blindly support an entity.
This is ridiculous. I explained how and why I have come to despise MLS many times and it has nothing to do with what you suggest, but you and other MLS fans refuse to listen. Also, it isn't just a few and they aren't all rabid fans. I'd say the commissioner of the league attacking the usmnt coach is enough and that is a very small part of it.
I forgot this little bit. I dont have any grand belief we could be a world beating team and don't their are many who do. What I do believe is that MLS indirectly and directly from 2017 until recently have negatively impacted the team. Being a top team in the world has always been my goal as fan and my hope is that we reach that in my lifetime which I think is unlikely, especially with all the limitations MLS places on growing the game. After enjoying watching that process from 20+ years, it became incredibly disheartening to see the team used as a marketing tool for MLS.
Also “MLS fans” mostly just follow their local club just like anywhere else. A New York City fan isn’t going to care if Ream or Miles Robinson loses their spot on the national team.
It's really difficult to explain to some doltheads that MLS fans, like anywhere else in the world, tend to be drawn into the game by supporting their local team, not because of principle, or ownership, or league structure. It's may not be a coincidence though that after the Klinsmann/Garber war of words attendances at non-competitive NT games slumped and have never fully recovered.
I think it is cute that MLS fans don't think their words and actions aren't recorded on the internet and that they can make up whatever they want to describe how they act/behave.
Says the guy who is constantly posting business statistics. Also, pretty wild to think a lot of MLS fans and people who have tried to support the league given up have done so on the principle to help support soccer in this country. I've seen them even try to push the league on people as a moral obligation... which I find funny because they are morally bankrupt.
A lot of American soccer fans (or at least ones online) struggle to comprehend the idea of supporting a local team.
I think it is cute that MLS haters don't think that their words and actions aren't recorded on the internet and that they can make up whatever they want to describe how they act/behave.
I'll take that an anti-immigrant rant. I'm a US citizen and a USMNT supporter just like you and I probably know more about US soccer history than 99% of fans It's not a large group. Just like the protel4USA truthers it's an echo chamber. MLS has done more for US soccer than any other league before it. Do you go l think the NASL owners cared about the NT? They nearly got USSF kicked out of FIFA. How did ASL, or APSL or A-League contribute to the NT. Do you think Premier League owners like Saudi Arabia or Qatar, or FSG, or Stan Kroenke, or Todd Boehly, or Shahid Khan care about the England team? Yet the England team has prospered from the success of the Premier League. So the hope is that a successful MLS will lead to a successful national team. And if you look at the NT squad, I think everyone but the dual nats, Pulisic, Sargent and LDLT has at some point been involved with MLS. MLS wanted to build a pipeline to Europe. How can that be bad for the NT? There are ineffiencies and drawbacks but our best young players are spending their youths at MLS academies then heading to the top leagues in the world. As for motivations, as Schalke 04 or Hamburger SV fan if they would sooner have Germany win the World Cup or their club win the Bundesliga.
I dont even know what you are implying. I dont have any data about some specific attendance measure you made up, but I think it has to do with the shitshow the USMNT became after Klinsmann with 5 MLS coaches leading the USMNT from 2017 to 2024 and choice of opponents. 2017 - Arena tries cover up his xenophobic comments and then follows through wrecking the the team with MLS lifers and failed to qualify 2019 - Berhalter makes the USMNT an MLS lifer heavy roster and the team plays as bad as it has for decades 2019+ - friendlies were wasted on poor teams I know many people like me that last attended a game in 2017 and dont plan on giving a dollar to the federation until this thing is turned around and it is clear MLS doesn't have any influence. Even after the complete disaster of Arena failing to qualify for the WC, people were willing to go out and watch the team play quality sides in 2018. Anybody who basically isn't a biased MLS fan will know that Klinsmann wasn't the problem, but he response to Klinsmann is what has caused so much damage. Luckily, that response caused so much damage that CEO finally made a decision for the good of the program and didn't allow Garber and MLS involved in any way.
It started in 2017 eh? Let's look at non Camp Cupcake friendlies. 2014 v Mexico 59,066 v Azerbaijan 24,688 v Turkey 26,762 v Nigeria 52,033 v Ecuador 36,265 v Honduras 14,805 v Colombia 24,235 2015 v Mexico 64,369 v Guatemala 44,835 v Peru 28,896 v Brazil 29,308 Ready for this...? v Costa Rica 9,214 2016 v Ecuador 9,893 v Bolivia 8,894 v New Zealand 9,012 v Mexico 24,650 So tell me how the slump started in 2027 again?
These two go together nicely. Soccer fans in the US is a significantly larger number than MLS fans. You guys are the ones that hide on BS where mods go after anyone not pro-MLS. Do we really have to do this again. NASL was one of the biggest contributors to blowing up the popularity of the sport in this country. The kids that were inspired by the NASL were the ones that qualified us for the WC in 1989. The owner of the top team was a guy who pushed for the US hosting the WC. I cant think of any USMNT player who was inspired by MLS. Next time you are in NYC (away from an MLS game) pay attention to all the soccer jerseys you see. They aren't for MLS teams. Why do you guys recycle the same dumb arguments. Lets do MLS first. You may not know this, but for a long time people pushed that we should support MLS to grow the game and the owners were really nice guys doing charity for the game (Anshutz is an American hero). The league has monopoly on the game in this country and has limited oversight from the federation. They are raping the game for profits and MLS fans cheer about their business structure and valuations. The EPL is an open system where losing costs the owner money. The owners are the same, but the structure incentives focusing on the game. The owners are the same wealthy people trying to extract money, but there is strong oversight from the federation preventing them from doing things that harm the game. When the biggest clubs tried to create a league similar to the MLS model, the fans were outraged and the federation stopped it. So yes, the owners are the same, but the federation and fans of the league are very different. If you want, every time I say something bad about MLS, you can infer i am not happy that the federation has let them do it. The fans reaction in England to the super league is why I think it is laughable that MLS fans think they are normal soccer/sports fans. MLS wanted to be a pipeline to Europe? That is a silly little comment. They fought that for years and only started to give lip service to it. The owners are still confused why they have to develop players. The league built on lies and the need for the media and its fans to spin them.
No they don't. They just don't like the product and the league caters to other demographics. It isnt sport/competition. It is entertainment. The reality is that the closed structure of US soccer that only benefits MLS limits the number of local teams and the number of people who have a local team.
My post makes it clear I understand that. Sometimes I wonder how you folks are able to make it in the real world. You guys are like no other sports fans I have ever seen.
I know a lot of people who never gave a second thought to MLS until those lifers were forced into the team and then they would be willing to discuss their disdain for everything associated with league any time of day. I forgot you don't understand sports fans. The damage the league has done to itself is immense and irreversible. They have killed off a large portion of potential fans and the only source of fan growth will be new generations. Im looking forward to 20 years from now and the MLS fans will be raving about stadiums, valuations, and all other things not soccer while the league is completely irrelevant to the USMNT. Can't wait to see how insufferable the kids of MLS fans will be by then.
Are good old friend Patrick pointing out how silly MLS, its media, and its fans are. I think he is rightly calling them full of shit. They will blindly support any narrative and flip in an instant without a single reservation. I've gotten so much blow back from MLS fans when pointing out how dumb their Feb-Dec schedule is. Now MLS is going to change it and they will all immediately say what a great idea.— Patrick Keeler (@pkeeler167) December 7, 2024
@An Unpaved Road... actually people complain about MLS all day long on the internet if they aren't on a site that censors that view. Here is an example of media trying to hype up the the league with misleading data and over a 100 people explaining why it is misleading as well as they think the quality of play is crap. Major League Soccer had over 12 million fans attend matches this season — more than any other professional soccer league outside the Premier League.This (obviously) needs to be adjusted for population, etc., but it's super impressive growth for MLS. pic.twitter.com/YzMB7Lv0ny— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) December 6, 2024
How is that misleading again? Also, why is this thread still active??? GB hasn't been coach of the USMNT since Late June. It's way beyond time to move on.